Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD.

Then do I cause their waters to sink, And their rivers as oil I cause to go, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

Then I will make their waters clear and their rivers will be flowing like oil, says the Lord.

Then will I make their waters to settle, And cause their rivers to run like oil, Saith the Lord GOD.

Then I will cause their waters to be very pure, and their rivers to be like oil, says the Lord God,

A promise of a return of God's favor. This concerns not the restoration of Egypt's original power, but the establishment of the Divine Ruler in the place of a pagan God-opposing power.

Cause their rivers to run like oil - Bring the whole state into quietness, there being no longer a political hippopotamus to foul the waters - to disturb the peace of the country.

Then will I make (i) their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD.
(i) That is, of the Chaldeans your enemies, who will quietly enjoy all your conveniences.

Then will l make their waters deep,.... Either the water, of Egypt literally, the waters of the Nile: no canals being cut from it, to carry the water to the several parts of the land, the land being depopulated, and no business done: or, figuratively, other nations, compared to waters for their numbers, who before had been disturbed by the Egyptians; but now they being destroyed, these would be at ease, like troubled waters, which subside, and: become deep and clear, when there is none to trouble them:
and cause their, rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God; very slowly, as if, they were mourning the unhappy condition of the land; or smoothly, clearly, undisturbed, as before. The Targum is,
"there will I cause the people to rest, and I will lead their kings quietly, saith the Lord God.''

make their waters deep--rather, "make . . . to subside"; literally, "sink" [FAIRBAIRN].
like oil--emblem of quietness. No longer shall they descend violently on other countries as the overflowing Nile, but shall be still and sluggish in political action.

Like oil - A figurative expression, signifying, there shall be such an universal sadness and heaviness upon the whole nation, that the very rivers which used to flow briskly, shall grow deep, and slow, and heavy.